Brussels - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has announced plans that he says will offer a "swift, determined and comprehensive" response to Europe's migrant crisis. Under the proposals, 120,000 additional asylum seekers will be distributed among EU nations, with binding quotas. It comes after a surge of thousands of mainly Syrian migrants pushed north through Europe in recent days. Mr Juncker told the European Parliament it was "not a time to take fright".
He was heckled by UK anti-European Union politician Nigel Farage, but dismissed his comments as "worthless".
Germany, the main destination for many migrants, supports quotas, but some EU countries oppose a compulsory system.
Hungary - a key point on a migrant route - has been warned to expect an additional 40,000 migrants by the end of next week.
In a separate development Australia, which has been under pressure to do more to help displaced people, has announced plans to take in more Syrian refugees. The government said it would accept 12,000 Syrian refugees from persecuted minorities.
Mr Juncker's plans were set out in a "state of the union" annual address in which he outlined the priorities of the European Commission. He opened his speech by admitting the European Union was "not in a good situation... There is a lack of Europe in this union, and a lack of union in this union". He said tackling the crisis was "a matter of humanity and human dignity".
The proposals will be discussed by EU home affairs ministers on 14 September in Brussels. The new plans - for an extra 120,000 migrants - would relocate 60% of those now in Italy, Greece and Hungary to Germany, France and Spain.
The numbers distributed to each country would depend on GDP, population, unemployment rate and asylum applications already processed. Countries refusing to take in migrants could face financial penalties. The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Romania have opposed the idea of mandatory quotas. On Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz said the country would accept more migrants than the 2,000 it first offered to take. Germany has welcomed Syrian migrants, waiving EU rules and saying it expects to deal with 800,000 asylum seekers this year alone - though not all will qualify as refugees and some will be sent back.(FA)
